Oil tanker explodes in China shipyard, killing seven

The blast happened about 8:40 a.m. local time as the 300- ton ship was being repaired at the Zhangjianqi shipyard in the Zhenhai District of Ningbo city in Zhejiang Province, Xinhua reported. The cause of the explosion is under investigation and the amount of oil leaking isn’t known, according to the report.

The blast happened about 8:40 a.m. local time as the 300- ton
ship was being repaired at the Zhangjianqi shipyard in the
Zhenhai District of Ningbo city in Zhejiang Province,
Xinhua reported. The cause of the explosion is under
investigation and the amount of oil leaking isnt known,
according to the report.

All fires were extinguished by about 2 p.m., according to a
post on the citys official news website. Six vessels have
been deployed to contain the leak, Xinhua reported,
citing the provincial maritime affairs bureau.

The ship, Xuyang 11, started service in April 2005, according
to the government website. It didnt say whether the
tanker was fully loaded at the time of the explosion.

Zhenhai is home of Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Company, owned
by China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., known as Sinopec. The refinery can process as much as 23
million tpy of crude, according to the refiners website.
Lv Dapeng, Sinopecs Beijing-based spokesman, didnt
answer two calls to his office.

The 131-kilometer (81-mile) long Yongjiang River is a major
source of drinking water to Ningbo citys population of
more than 7 million people, according to Xinhua.

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